Wichita eagle., 1887-04-07

Ia PHYSICIAN THINKS common
SENSE Is THE BEST GUIDE.
| Chapter Of Chat on EatfngeEver,
Person Should Be Guided by His ov,
Experienced Popular Deiusion-Hod
Grafton.
"As with reading, SO with eating. 1t IS no
what q person reads or eats that benefits him
it is what he digests-"
This was an eminent physiologist's reply b
reporters questionings this morning, wher
approaced on the subject Of that great Amer
lean complaint.
AIN the matter OF Diet he said, aevery
person should be guided by his own expert
ence, and not rely OF the experience of others
l know a newspaper man in this city who
lives on brown bread and apples and drinks
nothing but water, and there is no man OF
my acquaintance who enjoys more robust OF
perfect health. I have heard also of q com
poser and dramatic author whose favorite
dish is compound of potato, oatmeal and
Spanish onion, on which he thrives and does
much good work"
Richard A. Proctor, the astronomer, stf-
fered for many years with sick headaches,
and after trying every remedy under the sun
he set to work experimenting upon himself
Exercise or rest had no effect upon his NAL
ady They availed him nothing against per-
sistent attacks Then he tried stopping his
customary glass of wine or beer, which he
took with his dinner. THIS produced no
change. Pastry was next taken off his food
list, and he seemed to be benefited by the
omission Then he cut down on his tea and
coffee. Still be did not get the desired relief.
Finally he stopped taking sugar in his drink,
but the effect of this abstinence was unfavor-
able. At last he determined to let butter
alone. The effect Of this change was instan-
taneous and decisive. He had no more head
aches, and to this day you cannot prevail
upon him to eat butter or anything that he
knows contains the article.
CONSULTING A PHYSICIAN
"To consult physician in matters pertain
ing to diet, except in conditions OF disease, is
useless. While one viii tell you to abstain
from certain things, another will advise you
to eat only those things which the other ones
have denied to you. Take cheese, for ex-
ample. Most authorities are of the opinion
that it is not easily digested. l do not be-
ieve it Is any more indigest;ble than meat
and many other articles oe food Suppers
are, as a rule, condemned by the medical
fraternity. They assert that late meals arc
not only unnecessary, but positively harmful.
To my mind, do not believe that man who
goes to bed hungry can sleep. After eating,
blood is drawn toward the stomach to supply
the juices needed in digestion. Thus the
brain is relieved of the pressure exerted on
its centers during the hours of fasting, and
becomes pale and dormant, and sleep ens,ies
"A doctor was once called to attend lady
at an early hour in the morning, whom, he
was assured, was in a dying condition.
When he reached her bedside he found the
body warm and the heart doing honest work.
He prescribed buttered toast, to be eaten at
once, and the dying woman was soon sur.
prised by return of life and desire to live.
Milk, regarded by most people as perfect
food, and said to be natures own provision
for animal life, is to my mind a most mis-
chievous drink. For those who have at
tanned their full growth and can thrive on
solid food, milk is altogether superhuous, if
not harmful. The principal object of drink
ing is to allay thirst What can be found
more desirable to this end than water, when
employed free from admixture with any
solid material? Cocoa, chocolate, or even
milk are not near SO eficacious In allaying
thirst as water.
4 POPULAR DELUfAG
at is a popular delusion that dyspepsia IS
caused by eating indigestibleefood Only. Ii
this were SO, AID all the articles Of emu
merated as infiigestible were pla,' the
index expursatorius, tremble to / - mat
the poor dyspcptic would have left to l.re on.
The first essential toward regaining LSalth to
be noted by a dyspeptic is to live regularly
and abstain from all those foods that expert
ence shows are injurious. Many persons who
are supposed to have heart disease, al en-
larged liver or softening Of the brain are
really hypochondriac dyspeptics Often
times such persons have their worst fears
realized by consulting some medical encyclo-
IeRdia. l know of no more pitiable object
than the young man or woman who reads up
for the purpose Of finding out from what
complaint he or she is suffering
"When you are i'll go at once to a physician
instead of book, and when he tells you you
are suffering from an attack of dyspepsia aid
him in his work of repair by following his
directions to the letter and remember his ad-
vice as to what you shall eat and drink. By
doing this you viii have little need TO con-
suit numerous books and make note Of the
conflicting paragraphs in the
household column of the daily papers in order
10 avoid q recurrence OF the same complaint.
Moderation is good thing to observe, not
only in what YOU eat, but as 10 when you eat.
Choose the food and drink that will best fill
your stomach, and partake Of SUCH quantities
as can be easily dis,ested. The age, condition
and business OF man must also be consid-
cred, and none arc more capable Of deterinin-
ing how much, when and what to eat than
.ilc individual most interesteL-Nov York
Mai cnd Exprcsa
The Sorghum Sugar industry.